The Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 has been approved; A bill has moved forward in the Indiana State Senate to a provide coordinator to the Hoosier Women Veterans Program; The congressman who represents most of the WFHB listening area has introduced another bill to limit President Obama’s power.

FEATURE
A bill sponsored by Indiana State Representitive Eric Koch, from Bedford, could increase the cost of solar energy. We bring you a report on that now for today’s WFHB community report.

INS AND OUTS OF MONEY
Commercial tax services can do your income tax filing and get your return to you quickly. But if your household income is under $53,000, you can get help from an IRS-certified tax preparer absolutely free of charge—and get your return just as quickly. Find out how you can take advantage of this year’s Free Community Tax Service at a location near you (and online).

CREDITS
Today’s headlines were written by David Murphy
Along with Joe Crawford for CATSweek, a partnership with Community Access Television Services.
Our feature was produced by Anna Legge
The Ins and Outs of Money is produced by Dan Withered, in partnership with the Monroe County Public Library and The United Way of Monroe County.
Our engineer is Jose Rodriguez
Our theme music is provided by the Impossible Shapes.
Managing Producer is Joe Crawford,
Executive Producer is Alycin Bektesh.

A fire at Village Deli yesterday afternoon has forced the restaurant to close; A Republican state representative is pushing a bill to allow firearms on Indiana’s college campuses; In a report released on Friday, the Human Rights Campaign listed Indiana as “High Priority to Achieve Basic Equality” regarding the treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens; Starting today crews will be closing single lanes on State Road 37 north of Bloomington; A long-time city employee is this year’s recipient of Bloomington’s Martin Luther King Jr; Renovations at the Monroe County Public Library are almost finished.

FEATURE
Last week the city of Bloomington hosted what was dubbed a community conversation with law enforcement. The public was invited to make comments and ask questions to a panel of local police. The two-hour event got heated at times, with many residents speaking about police violence and racial bias. We now bring you a portion of that conversation for today’s WFHB community report.

ACTIVATE!
Our weekly segment spotlighting people working for positive change in our community!

CREDITS
Today’s headlines were written by David Murphy, Emily Beck, Amanda Marino and Anson Shupe
Along with Joe Crawford for CATSweek, a partnership with Community Access Television Services.
Our feature was produced by Michael Hilton
Activate! is produced by Jennifer Whitaker, along with the City of Bloomington Volunteer Network
Our engineer is Chris Martin,
Our theme music is provided by the Impossible Shapes.
Managing Producer is Joe Crawford
Executive producer is Alycin Bektesh.

Races to fill positions on the Bloomington City Council are beginning to take shape; A Bloomington developer is on his way to building a large new neighborhood on the southeast side of the city; A federal judge may have put an end to threats to close a Planned Parenthood clinic in Lafayette; The City of Bloomington negotiated with a Kentucky-based contractor to save almost $50,000 on a major water system improvement project; Starting this Saturday, the organizers of this year’s Week of Chocolate are asking local residents to indulge in all things chocolate and feel no guilt.

FEATURE 1
The use of new radar technology by police has raised privacy concerns around the country. And now local officials are weighing in. Our reporter, Sarah Panfil, has that story.

FEATURE 2
Members of a local organization were in Cuba last month when the press announced that diplomatic ties between the US and Cuba would be resumed. The group was a delegation of the organization CUBAmistad, which facilitates a sister city relationship between Bloomington and the city of Santa Clara. WFHB News contributor Cynthia Roberts, who co-founded the CUBAmistad organization, was part of that delegation. She reports here on what changes are currently under discussion as State Department personnel meet this week with their counterparts in Havana.

VOICES IN THE STREET
Last Monday, we celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King is a central figure in non-violent opposition to racism and the fight for racial equality. It’s been more than 50 years since he delivered his “I have a Dream” speech, so Voices in the Streets hit the streets to ask your friends and neighbors if they think we’ve achieved racial equality here in America.

CREDITS
Anchors: Carolyn VandeWiele & Scott Weddle
Today’s headlines were written by Sarah Panfil and Carmen Gozalo.
Along with Joe Crawford for CATSweek, a partnership with Community Access Television Services.
Our feature was produced by Dan Withered.
Voices in the Street was produced by Kelly Wherley,
Our engineer today is Jonathan Goethals.
Our theme music is provided by the Impossible Shapes.
Managing Producer is Joe Crawford
Executive Producer is Alycin Bektesh.

Bloomington residents will have a chance to ask questions and raise concerns to local law enforcement tomorrow night; The lowest paid employees at the Monroe County Public Library may soon get a raise; The Monroe County government ended 2014 with more money than it had at the start of the year; Indiana University says its new campus shuttle service aims to promote sustainability for people commuting between Bloomington and Indianapolis; Some Indiana lawmakers want to do away with the state’s current five-year time limit for filing rape charges; Indiana’s 21st Century Scholars program—which promises low-income middle school students a full state scholarship if they stay out of criminal trouble, don’t use drugs and get acceptable grades,—faces a large jump in costs next year; Ellettsville is finally be ready to build the first phase of its pedestrian trail.

FEATURE
Dancing with Parkinson’s is a movement started by David Leventhal, a professional dancer in Brooklyn, New York in 2002. The initiative has expanded to include chapters all over the United States and continues to expand into the international community with chapters in Canada, the UK and Australia among others. The mission of Dancing with Parkinson’s is to provide dance classes with live music to enrich the lives of people with Parkinson’s disease as well as their families, friends, and caregivers. Bloomington’s own chapter was founded by Weezie and David Smith, who sat down for an interview with WFHB Correspondent Jennifer Whitaker to talk about their own experience and the Bloomington chapter.

CREDITS
Anchors: Cathi Norton and Kelly Wherley
Today’s headlines were written by Cathi Norton, Jack Hanek and Sophia Saliby
Along with Joe Crawford for CATSweek, in partnership with Community Access Television services
Bloomington Beware was produced by Richard Fish
Our feature was produced by Jennifer Whitaker
Our engineers today were Adam Reichle, Matthew Gwaltney and Jim Lang
Our theme music is provided by the Impossible Shapes
Managing Producer is Joe Crawford
Executive Producer is Alycin Bektesh

As President Obama prepares to unveil his proposal for free community
college in tonight’s State of the Union address, a local legislator is
putting forward his own plan; Police are still looking for information
about a Bloomfield woman who has been missing for nearly three weeks; The
First Baptist Church in West Baden Springs has been taken off the state’s
10 most-endangered building list; The Monroe County Commissioners heard a
request to better maintain the Vietnam Veterans memorial outside the
County Courthouse; Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly is pushing again
for Congress to repeal a medical device tax that helps pay for the
Affordable Care Act; The city of Bloomington is launching a new fair labor
initiative to encourage fair labor practices in Bloomington eating
establishments; The Indiana State Department of Health has introduced a
new awareness program in hopes of improving Indiana’s dismal infant
mortality rate.

FEATURE
Yesterday an action was held in Bloomington in commemoration of Dr.
Martin Luther King’s birthday, which focused on the issue of police
mistreatment of African-Americans and the recent calls for justice for
those victims. WFHB correspondent David Murphy was on the scene to talk to
some of the participants for today’s WFHB community report.

INS AND OUTS OF MONEY
What would it take for Monroe County residents and businesses to cut
energy use by 10 percent? Molly O’Donnell of Monroe County Energy
Challenge thinks she knows the answer: 5 million dollars. Find out who’s
putting up the money, what has to be done to meet the challenge, and how
trying our best will benefit us all.

CREDITS
Anchors: Lindsey Wright and Chris Martin
Today’s headlines were written by Jack Hanek, Cathi Norton, Anson Shupe
and Carmen Gozalo.
Along with Joe Crawford for CATSweek, a partnership with Community Access
Television Services.
Our feature was produced by David Murphy.
The Ins and Outs of Money is produced by Dan Withered, in partnership with
the Monroe County Public Library and The United Way of Monroe County.
Our engineer is Joe Crawford.
Our theme music is provided by the Impossible Shapes.
Managing Producer is Joe Crawford.
Executive Producer is Alycin Bektesh.

A second candidate has entered the race for mayor of Bloomington; Poverty is still on the rise in Indiana, according to a new report from the Indiana Institute for Working Families; After a rape was reported on Indiana University’s campus this week, a student group is aiming to educate IU students about sexual assault, rape and consent; The Bloomington City Council spent most of its meeting last night remembering community members who recently passed away.

FEATURE
For a second time, Representative Todd Young authored legislation to increase the number of hours employees have to work in order to receive healthcare from their employers. The bill has passed in the House of Representatives. As it heads now to the senate, WFHB News Director Alycin Bektesh explores what the impact of Representative Young’s bill would be here in his hometown of Bloomington Indiana.

VOICES IN THE STREET
A new year is here, a time for reflection and resolution. How are people in Bloomington resolving to improve themselves and our world? In this special edition of Voices in the Street, WFHB went on-location to local taverns, neighborhood parties, and of course the streets of Bloomington to find all about hopes and dreams for 2015.

CREDITS
Anchors: Scott Weddle, Caroly VandeWiele
Today’s headlines were written by Sarah Panfil
Along with Joe Crawford for CATSweek, a partnership with Community Access
Television Services.
Our feature was produced by Alycin Bektesh.
Voices in the Street was produced by Kelly Wherley,
Our engineer today is Jonathan Goethals.
Our theme music is provided by the Impossible Shapes.
Editor is Drew Daudelin, Executive Producer is Alycin Bektesh.

Governor Mike Pence opened his half-hour State of the State speech last night by saying Indiana has never been stronger; Bloomington residents stood on the corner of Kirkwood and Walnut as the sun set yesterday evening, waving signs that said “no keystone XL” as part of a national day of action against the controversial pipeline; Monroe County is now a semifinalist in a nationwide competition to save energy.

FEATURE
We now bring you condensed portions of Governor Mike Pence’s State of the State address from last night. Pence gave the speech before the Indiana General Assembly.

Indiana Governor Mike Pence will give his state of the state speech tonight; Today was the deadline for lawmakers to file bills in the state legislature; A new Business Directory is now available to highlight minority and women-owned businesses serving Bloomington and Monroe County; Monroe County has hired a part-time employee to help residents buy health insurance.

FEATURE
Indiana has among the most restrictive regulations on the sale of alcohol in the country. Recently, there has been an effort to legalize the purchase of alcohol on Sundays, and a state representative has introduced legislation on the matter. WFHB Correspondent David Murphy speaks with Grant Monahan, President of the Retail Council, a spokesperson for Hoosiers for Sunday Sales, and Patrick Tamm, C.E.O. of the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers, about their conflicting opinions on the legislation, for today’s WFHB Community Report.

INS AND OUTS OF MONEY
Jerry James senior lecturer of finance at IU’s Kelly School of Business talks about budgeting on WFHB’s weekly financial segment The Ins and Outs of Money.

CREDITS
Anchors: Casey Kuhn, Chris Martin
Today’s headlines were written by Cathi Norton and David Murphy.
Along with Joe Crawford for CATSweek, a partnership with Community Access Television Services.
Our feature was produced by David Murphy.
The Ins and Outs of Money is produced by Dan Withered, in partnership with the Monroe County Public Library and The United Way of Monroe County.
Our engineer is Joe Crawford.
Our theme music is provided by the Impossible Shapes.
Managing Producer is Joe Crawford,
Executive Producer is Alycin Bektesh.

Bloomington has its first official candidate for mayor; John Hamilton filed paperwork this morning with the Monroe County Clerk’s office declaring his intention to run as a Democrat in this year’s municipal election; Democracy for Monroe County, has decided to review its mission statement and potentially broaden its support beyond its partisan origins; The hierarchy of the Monroe County Community School Board is set to remain the same throughout 2015; Time to stow the Christmas ornaments and recycle those trees; Attorney General Greg Zoeller supports legislation to regulate e-cigarettes.

FEATURE
There is increasing pressure on K-12 schools to examine their policies for punishing students, particularly because research now shows black students are punished more severely than white students. Correspondent Joe Crawford brings us this story about how local schools are dealing with the issue for today’s WFHB community report.

ACTIVATE!
Our weekly segment spotlighting people working for positive change in our community.

CREDITS
Anchors: Maria McKinley, Doug Storm
Today’s headlines were written by David Murphy, Cathi Norton, Susan Northleaf along with commentary Anson Shupe
Along with Joe Crawford for CATSweek, a partnership with Community Access Television Services.
Our feature was produced by Joe Crawford
Activate! is produced by Jennifer Whitaker, along with the City of Bloomington Volunteer Network
Our engineer is Chris Martin,
Our theme music is provided by the Impossible Shapes.
Managing Producer is Joe Crawford
Executive producer is Alycin Bektesh.